


handle with care

by ImagineDragonflys



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Slight hurt/comfort but not really, im incapable of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 13:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17346230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineDragonflys/pseuds/ImagineDragonflys
Summary: "Lance is an idiot. A huge idiot. And Keith hates him."Lance is in the hospital and Keith is worried.





	handle with care

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first vld fic post season 8! Hope you enjoy!

Keith paced around the waiting room as he had been doing for hours. He’d tried sitting down and swiping through his phone a few times but he couldn’t focus, switching between apps only to end up staring blankly at his home screen. The room itself was dull and plain which only made it worse. Nothing could distract him. He found himself startled by every muffled noise coming through the walls. People had been coming in and out of the room all night led away by a nurse. No one had come for Keith yet.

The only other person with him now was an old man. He was slouched in a chair in the corner, hat brim slightly obscuring his face, head resting against the wall and snoring softly. He and Keith had been the only ones there for a few hours now but they hadn’t spoken a word to each other. Keith was glad for it. There was no telling what might happen if someone decided to talk to him. He might explode with all the thoughts running through his head but that was at least preferable to sobbing through an explanation.

Lance is an idiot. A huge idiot. And Keith hates him. 

They were supposed to just a have a nice day. Walk by the lake, go to the comic shop, then dinner at Allura’s. But Allura canceled and, rather than cut their date short, Lance suggested they go out. They’d gone to one of Keith’s favorite places, a hole in the wall with dingy lighting, small booths, and the greasiest food imaginable. And everything had been great. Perfect, even. Until some guy at the bar with too many drinks and a sneer on his face looked at them and decided his input was vital to their dining experience. 

It wasn’t anything particularly creative but the man was loud and sometimes that’s enough. They had tried their best to ignore him, surely someone would shut him up. It turned out someone else didn’t have to, he’d barely spoken for twenty-seconds before his tirade was ended. The man got about halfway through what was sure to be an insightful comment about Keith’s hair when Lance crossed the narrow space between them and punch the guy square in the face.

For a moment, the man looked shocked. Then he lunged at Lance shoving him to the ground, his head banged against a table as he fell. By now it seemed more people had caught on to the shitshow around them. One of the waiters was holding the man back and pushing him towards the door while Keith got up to check on Lance. 

By all appearances, he should have been fine. But as Keith crouched down next to him he knew immediately that something was wrong. He shook him but Lance made no response.

“Lance,” Keith said, shaking him again.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

“Lance!” panic rising, he looked around desperately, “Someone call 911!”

Keith pressed his head against Lance’s chest, relieved to hear the thrum his heart underneath. He felt his breath growing raged and his vision started to tunnel.

The rest was a blur.

The din of the crowd surrounding them at the restaurant, the clamor of the ambulance, the assurances of “he’ll be fine,” and then the dull buzz of the fluorescent lights in the waiting room. 

Despite what he was told when he arrived, panic still coursed through Keith. If Lance was all right they would have told him by now, wouldn’t they? But, if he wasn’t all right they _definitely_ would have told him by now. The anxiety had driven him to his back-and-forth shuffle across the linoleum. 

He heard steps in the hallway and reflexively turned toward the door as a nurse walked in, “Keith Kogane?”

Keith’s throat went tight and he nodded.

“Follow me.”

And Keith trailed quickly after him as the other man started talking, “He’s fine. Pretty bad concussion but we’ve put him on some pain meds for the time being. He was asking for you.”

Once again, all Keith can do is nod which he’s not even sure the nurse could see as he trails slightly behind. Before Keith could even get their bearings they were outside the room, he walked in without even thinking. 

The first thing he notices is Lance’s smile. He’s talking to another nurse standing near the heart monitor taking notes on a clipboard. The nurse giggles to herself as she writes. Then Lance’s gaze turns toward the new figure in the doorway and his small smile turns into a grin, “Keith!”

And Keith is by his side in seconds, pulling a chair toward the edge of the bed, grabbing Lance’s hand as he sits. He opens his mouth to say something but Lance speaks again, “Keith this is Julia,” he gestures to the nurse, “she gave me some drugs so my head doesn’t feel like a balloon being stepped on.”

The nurse offers Keith a smile and then turns to Lance, “I’ll be back to check on you again in a little while, okay?” She leaves the room and Lance looks back at Keith, he doesn’t know whether to cry or hug him. Instead of either of those, he looks Lance dead in the eye and says, “You may be the dumbest person I’ve ever met.”

Lance scoffs at him, “Well excuse me. I was trying to defend your honor. You know that guy deserved it and honestly-“

“Of course he deserved it but you got hurt!”

“I’m fine!”

“You’re in the hospital!”

“I’m mostly fine!”

Keith gripped Lance’s hand tighter and let his head fall, mumbling, “I hate you…”

When he looked up again Lance was smiling tightly at him, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Don’t apologize, asshole. I just wish this hadn’t happened.”

“You’re telling me! I thought I was gonna deck that guy and then we’d run off into the sunset. Now I’m wired to a bunch of machines and on enough meds that my brain feels like scrambled eggs. Can we sue that guy? I bet we can. They must have his name somewhere at that restaurant or maybe we can track him down and slash his tires? I bet Pidge could figure that out-“

“I love you,” Keith said as Lance continued to ramble.

“-or at least we could egg his house or something, right? Man, I can’t even think of good revenge scenarios right now this sucks-“ his eyes seem to focus a little more, “Did you just say you love me?”

Keith blushes, “Yeah. I did. I mean, you’re an idiot for getting into fights with drunk dudes twice your size but I also love you for it? And I would’ve been really pissed if something happened and I didn’t get to tell you that.”

At this, Lance is beaming, his eyes look glossy and not just from the drugs, “Awwww, Keith! You wuv me?” He bats his eyelashes.

Keith rolls his eyes but he’s smiling too, “Maybe… “

“I love you, too.”

Keith leans over and kisses him softly, careful not to lean into Lance too hard. They break apart to smile at each other then their lips meet again. And again. And again. Until they hear a soft knock at the door, the nurse walks in with a coy smile. The two draw apart, blushing. As the nurse takes Lance’s vitals they glance at each other laughing quietly, Lance’s hand still clasped tightly in Keith’s. 

_Lance is an idiot,_ Keith thinks with a grin.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I may not be a big voltron fan anymore but these characters will always mean a lot to me....... I hope you enjoyed,! Feel free to leave any comments or criticisms! <3


End file.
